SIxth-formers study comedian Russell Brand's views on drugs policy

A new English A-level which will see sixth-formers study comedian Russell Brand's views on drugs policy and interviews with music star Dizzee Rascal has been approved by the exams regulator.

Ofqual has given the go-ahead for the new qualification to be taught in schools and colleges from September next year, according to the OCR exam board, which drew up the course with the English and Media Centre.

The text list for the new English Language and Literature A-level includes Russell Brand's evidence on drugs policy which was presented to the House of Commons, pieces by The Secret Footballer, who has written anonymously about professional football, the transcript of a BBC Newsnight interview with Dizzee Rascal, poems by Emily Dickinson and William Blake, and works by Orwell, Shakespeare and Charlotte Bronte.

It also features tweets by broadcaster and columnist Caitlin Moran and memoirs such as Twelve Years A Slave.

The aim of the A-level is for students to ''develop the skills to analyse any text, whether spoken or written, literary or non-literary, in the most appropriate way,'' the organisations have said.

They added that students studying a play like The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde will have to look at ideas such as form, structure and dramatic techniques, while those reading the transcript of the Dizzee Rascal interview will look at concepts like purpose and audience.

When the draft content of the course was published earlier this year there were reports that the Department for Education (DfE) was critical of the qualification, suggesting it representing a "dumbing down" of the subject.

Paul Dodd, OCR director of reform, said: "We are delighted that Ofqual has accredited this fresh and exciting new specification.

"Both OCR and EMC believe that combined English Language and Literature offers something special. Our aim in creating the specification was to produce a course with a rich, diverse mix of content - including highly regarded contemporary texts as well as long-established works - that will inspire and engage a new generation of students."

A DfE spokesman said: "The criteria for English language and literature clearly set out the expectations exam boards must meet, in order to be approved.

"Decisions on whether these criteria have been met are rightly a matter for Ofqual."

An Ofqual spokeswoman said: "We have accredited OCR's English Language and Literature AS and A level.

"The content requirements for this qualification are set by Government and we set the requirements for how it should be assessed. We have a robust process in place to make sure the qualifications we accredit meet these requirements."

The English course is one of a number of new A-levels due to be brought in next year following the Government's major overhaul of the exams system.